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| Grande Bibliothèque | |
|---|---|
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 Interactive map of Grande Bibliothèque | |
| General information | |
| Type | Public library |
| Location | 475 De Maisonneuve Boulevard east Montreal, Quebec H2L 5C4 |
| Coordinates | 45°30′56″N73°33′45″W / 45.5156°N 73.5624°W /45.5156; -73.5624 |
| Construction started | 2001 |
| Opened | 30 April 2005 |
| Cost | $90.6 million |
| Owner | Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 5 |
| Floor area | 33,000 m2 (360,000 sq ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architecture firm | Patkau Architects Croft-Pelletier/Gilles Guité |
| Website | |
| banq.qc.ca | |
| Grande Bibliothèque | |
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| Established | October 2002  |
| Architects | Marie-Chantal Croft,Patkau Architects |
| Collection | |
| Items collected | books, e-books, music, cds, periodicals, maps, genealogical archives, business directories, local history, |
| Size | 4 million items |
TheGrande Bibliothèque (French pronunciation:[ɡʁɑ̃dbiblijɔtɛk]) is apublic library inDowntown Montreal, Quebec,Canada. Its collection is part ofBibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ), Quebec'snational library.
Membership in the library is free to all residents of Quebec. It has some 10,000 users per day and a record of 3 million users in 2009—double the projected figure of 1.5 million for that year.[1] In 2011, it attracted 2.7 million visitors, and was the most frequented public library in bothNorth America and theFrancophonie.[2]
TheGrande Bibliothèque's collection consists of some 4 million works, including 1.14 million books, 1.2 million other documents, and 1.66 millionmicrofiches. The majority of the works are inFrench; about 30% are in English, and a dozen other languages are also represented.[3] The library has some 80 kilometres of shelf space.
These works are divided into two collections. TheCollection nationale or Québec heritage collection, with about one million works, consists of copies of all works given to the BNQ forlegal deposit, that is every book published in the province since 1968 as well as some 35,000 books published elsewhere that are pertaining to the subject of Quebec or whose at least one co-author is originally from the province. Documents by or aboutFrench Canadians,French Americans orAboriginal peoples of the province are also included in this last number.[4] This is supplemented by the Saint-Sulpice collection of some 78,000 works, some dating back to the 1760s and including books from the personal libraries of such figures asLouis-Joseph Papineau andLouis-Hippolyte Lafontaine. TheCollection nationale is available for on-site reference.[5]
TheCollection universelle de prêt et de référence, a collection of about three million works on all subjects, includes the collection of theBibliothèque centrale de Montréal, purchased from the City of Montreal for the project, as well as new acquisitions. Except for reference works, these works are available for loan. Written works are catalogued by theDewey Decimal System.
Besides written works, there is also a large multimedia collection including 70,000 music CDs, 5,000 music scores, 16,000 films on DVD and Blu-ray, and 500 software programs, available for loan.[6] The library's adapted book service holds more than 50,000 documents for thevisually impaired, includingBraille andaudiobooks.[6]
The library has 1300 reading armchairs, 850 study seats and carrels, and 350 computer stations.
The basement contains a children's library with special audio-visual equipment, theEspace jeunes.
Its extensive multimedia facilities include 44 audio stations and 50 video stations, as well as multimedia computer terminals and two music rooms with facilities for composingelectronic music.
Other specialized services include a job and career centre, a business connection centre, a special service centre for newcomers to Québec, and a language laboratory.
In addition to its collections, reading rooms, and audio-visual facilities, the Grande Bibliothèque also contains exhibition spaces, conference rooms, theatres, and auditoriums.
The Grande Bibliothèque, which had been a pet project of former Québec premierLucien Bouchard, was designed byPatkau Architects fromVancouver andCroft-Pelletier/Gilles Guité fromQuebec City.
Construction on the new 33,000 m2 library, a$90.6 million project began in 2001 on the site of the former Palais du commerce. It was officially opened 23 April 2005 in time for theWorld Book and Copyright Day, during a year in which Montréal held the honorary title ofWorld Book Capital given byUNESCO.[6] The library was opened to the general public the following Saturday, April 30, 2005, and loans began on May 3.
Thecontemporary-styled five-storey building is clad with U-shaped plates ofglass of a type never used before inNorth America, placed horizontally on thecopper uprights that run the whole height of the building.
In June 2005 three of these plates of glass shattered. In the first three weeks of July 2005, three more of these plates shattered, an average of one breakage per week. Metal barricades and canopies were used to secure the areas until the problem was corrected.
The national and universal collections are each housed in one of twochambres de bois ("wooden rooms"), a reference toAnne Hébert's novelLes Chambres de bois. These multi-storey areas are demarcated by walls of wooden slats, either allowing indirect natural light or blocking it according to the conservation needs of the collection. The slats are made of Québec-grownyellow birch, theofficial tree of Québec.
In accordance with the Québec government's policy on integrating art and architecture, the building contains several integrated works of art:
The Grande Bibliothèque is located at 475De Maisonneuve Boulevard East (45°30′56.00″N73°33′45.00″W / 45.5155556°N 73.5625000°W /45.5155556; -73.5625000) at the corner ofBerri Street, in theQuartier Latin adjacent to theUniversité du Québec à Montréal campus, in the borough ofVille-Marie. It is connected directly by theunderground city toBerri-UQAM Metro station, a factor cited by the institution for its success.[7]
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